Tortured souls
by fight-the-fire
Summary: Zoey's life is coming back slowly, but can she last when she is thrown into the fast lane? This begins after Tempted ends!
1. Chapter 1

**Okay guys, as a word of warning: I had uploaded this story quite a while back but in three chapters and I really hated the way I had written it so I decided to make it all one chapter and then start working on a second chapter! :D  
You all know that as much as you hate me right now you really love me, so yeah!  
Read, Review and ****Show me the love!**

**Zoey's POV**

"NO!" the hollow noise bounced around in my head. I couldn't give up; I couldn't die.

"I WON'T LET MYSELF DIE!" I screeched. The noise was so loud; the darkness around me seemed to shatter.

***

"Zoeybird... Open your eyes." I knew that voice, I was sure of it. But who was it, and how did I open my eyes? A hand caressed my face and suddenly my eyes sprang open.

"Nyx!" the words seemed to shimmer in the air between us and the sound of them made me marvel. "Am I... Am I dead?" my voice broke on the last word and silent tears ran from the corners of my eyes.

Nyx's own eyes were filled with compassion as she came into a sitting position next to me. "No, my dear child, you are not dead. You are far from it, but you need strength before you can return to reality. Loss has brought you down; and now you are in need of help. Retrieve strength from your affinity with the elements and you will never go wrong. With this I must depart though so I say goodbye Zoey Redbird and good luck." Her image wavered as she started to disappear.

"NYX! I need help! How am I to do this? I am... lost and have no idea of how to do ANYTHING let alone save myself!" I tried to keep my voice from breaking and shaking, but the statement still sounded as though I was pleading.

"Zoey; look ahead, not behind and seek strength to find of what you are searching for." Then with one last shimmer, Nyx, my Goddess disappeared.

Realisation crashed over me, after Nyx left, and I fell to my knees with a sob. Yet when I opened my eyes once more, I was not in the Goddess's realm. Instead, I was kneeling near the edge of a castle, and below, I saw a group of mourning people.

I looked a little closer and saw that the people where my friends; all of them. Then, in the heap on the floor, looking completely broken, I saw stark. At the sight of him, my mind screamed and I whispered in a broken voice his name. "_Stark_."

He suddenly looked up and his eyes searched around him. I called out to him louder, yet he couldn't hear me. I waved my arms and shouted him again, but his eyes dropped back down to what he was cradling in my arms. It was me; or my body anyway. My hollow, empty body.

With this freshly burned picture in my mind, I knew of what I needed to do now. Quickly, I called the five elements to me, and when I was fully surrounded by them, threw myself backwards off the castle. As I plunged down, the elements smashed into me, trying to save me, but I sent them away, ordering them to send my apologises to my friends.

Then everything went black once more, but there was a distant sound of sobs and people screeching my name. But all I could do was wait until my body comprehended that I, Zoey Redbird, was back.

**Stark's POV**

Mumbled words and muffled cries were all I could hear. Words were spoken yet nothing registered and all I could feel was Zoey, lying lifeless in my arms. I buried my head into her neck and sobbed.

"Zoey... Zoey please wake up. Zoey, I love you; I'm so sorry." I said, repeating myself again and again.

"Stark..." was the first thing I heard, yet it wasn't the voice I wanted. It was, for sure, a male; Darius. "Stark, you need to help us carry the body inside. If you are sure that Zoey isn't there then we need to make sure her body is ready for when she _does _come back."

I felt a hand come down on my shoulder and I looked up to see Aphrodite, _Ice queen_, kneeling next to me. "Please Stark, if you value Zoey's life at all, you'll let us fix her," she whispered through the constant tears that leaked from her eyes.

"No. We can't move her; I'm not sure why but I know that we can't move her." My voice was cracked and hoarse; red streaks, from my blood-tinged tears, lining my face and my hair sticking to my forehead.

Darius was silent for a while and then I heard him mumble a few words to someone, probably Damien, before taking off in the direction of the castle. Damien walked slowly over to me, or Zoey, and crouched down feeling Zoey's forehead and pulse.

The twins stayed in the same position, arms wrapped around each other's waist, crying into each other's shoulder. That, once again, made me think of Zoey. When things went wrong, when one of us were ill, upset or in my case dying, we had been together and made the way through together. But I wasn't there when it really mattered. I was feeling sorry for myself when I should have been there for Zoey but I wasn't and now she's gone.

I heard Damien gasp, pulling my attention away from The Twins and to Damien. His eyes were wide when I heard a broken voice whisper my name. I searched frantically around me not trusting myself. There was nothing there. I heard it again, but there was for sure, nobody there. My head drooped forward and my eyes returned back to Zoey. Her lifeless body still lay limp in my arms.

I was about to place one final kiss on her lips when I heard her take a shallow breath in. Darius was running back, shouting Zoey's name, closely followed by a female vamp. Damien whispered her name and Aphrodite clutched Zoey's hand, begging her to wake up while The Twins sobs continued.

She took another breath in, deeper this time, and I felt my spirit lift again. She was _alive._

Zoey Redbird, My Lady, was alive.

**Aphrodite's POV**

"Stark! Let go of her! We need to get her to a healer!" I was shouting, over and over again. I was getting tired of repeating myself when Darius put a restraining hand on my shoulder.

"Speak in soothing words to him, we need him to release the body, not feel like he needs to protect it from us. Here dry your tears and blow your nose." He handed me a handkerchief before trying to communicate with and incoherent mumbling Stark.

Stark buried his head into Zoey's neck and spoke his first understandable sentence.

"Zoey... Zoey please wake up. Zoey, I love you; I'm so sorry." His voice was strained and rough and was filled with agonising pain which made fresh tears leak from my eyes. This worried me. I am Aphrodite, _I never cry!_ Okay, of all the times to think of myself now was not the time. Zoey needed me, she needed us.

"Nerd herd!" I shouted. "Channel your elements to Zoey. We will bring her back." I hadn't realised my voice was so rough. If I sounded this bad, I wonder how bad I look.

I turned back to Zoey and Stark as The Twins and Damien started sending their elements to Zoey.

The elements swarmed around us before hurling themselves at Zoey. At this point, Darius found the need to try and break through Stark's barrier and make him see sense. "Stark... Stark, you need to help us carry the body inside. If you are sure that Zoey isn't there then we need to make sure her body is ready for when she _does _come back."

I bent down beside Stark and laid my hand on his shoulder and before I had fully comprehended what I needed to say I was speaking. "Please Stark, if you value Zoey's life at all, you'll let us fix her," tears still leaving tracks down my face.

He looked up to face me, anger, pain and guilt twisting his face; red tear tinged tear tracks all down his face. "No. We can't move her; I'm not sure why but I know that we can't move her." He whispered; his voice hoarse but he sounded so sure.

Darius stood quickly, spoke quickly to Damien before running in the direction of the castle; hopefully getting a healer. Damien slowly walked towards Zoey, crouching near her head and checking her pulse.

The Twins stayed in their same position, hugging each other, crying on each other's shoulder. The one person Zoey would have wanted to be here wasn't. Stevie Rae was back in Tulsa probably thinking everything was going well. How would we explain that her best friend died? I zoned out thinking about this, only coming back when I heard Damien's shocked gasp.

He sat with his eyes wide, mouth gaping. Then Stark lifted his head high, searching for something. _What the hell?! _Stark must have realised there was nothing there as his face dropped, his head lolling forward and he was back facing Zoey.

A lone tear ran down his face and landed on Zoey's cheek. He leaned forward; placing his lips on Zoey's and kissed her. _One last kiss..._ I thought. I was thinking about wrapping Stark in my arms and telling him everything was going to be okay (what the hell was I thinking?) when Zoey took in one shallow breath.

Darius was running forward, closely followed by a female vamp who was probably a healer, shouting Zoey's name. I clutched her hand tightly as Damien whispered her name. Another breath came, deeper this time and her hand twitched slightly in mine.

She was waking. _She was alive!_


	2. Chapter 2

**Zoey's POV**

I kept trying to move, but my body wouldn't comprehend. I tried everything, ranging from twitching to trying to control the elements. I even tried calling upon Nyx but she didn't seem to hear me, or maybe she just didn't recognise the limp and lifeless body that I unfortunately seemed to be sporting.

I'd been trying this for just over four days and the only thing keeping me sane was my counting of the 'tick tocking' noise the clock made as the seconds went by. I would have to focus on it to remember what time it was as muffled sobs filled the room and distant cries of 'Zoey' were whispered. If only they realised I was still here, just slightly out of it.

I heard a shrill voice whimper the word 'Nerd Herd' and heard a slight patter of galloping feet, which stopped close to where I assumed the door was.

"What do you need, Aphrodite?" Another voice whispered.

Ah, _so the shrill voiced person's name is Aphrodite!_ I thought to myself. Ever since I had regained such slight control to my body names and faces escaped me, leaving me clueless on who was who but reminding me that they were important to me.

"Can you try once more to send the elements to her? We can't let everything run to ruin and to stop it we need Zoey! Please, just one more try because I think she is waking up. In the past few days there has been changes in temperature and little gusts of wind coming from nowhere and I think it's her, I think that she's trying to tell us something..." Aphrodite's voice trailed off, or at least I thought it had. Maybe she had just gone out of hearing distance although I heard no footsteps.

The motion of people's feet usually vibrated along the floor bringing me the noise so I knew the arrival of people but voices were always so quiet, as though they spoke on a constant hush.

I heard a slight, un-understandable mumble buzz in the air before I felt a gust of wind pick up around me. The mumbles carried on but the temperature of the room dropped and rose and then a faint smell of lavender filled the air around me. _The elements..._ My mind whispered. _My elements..._

I felt some strong hands grip my shoulders and felt someone shake me but I still couldn't control my body. I heard someone step closer and take my hand after pushing the person off me.

"Zoey, I love you, please wake up," I heard someone sigh before their lips touched mine. It felt so familiar, so natural that I felt strength rush through my body. _Carry on, Carry on. Come on! _I shouted internally. _Bring me to life, COME ON!_ I felt adrenaline course through my veins as heat burned a path.

This unfamiliar yet so familiar person was bringing me back to life. This unknown creature that I obviously know was raising my tortured soul from the pit it had been resting in and giving it light. This person was resurrecting me without knowing it.

Slowly I regained control of my body and my hand twitched as the feeling in it began to return; the hand that just so happened to be in my saviours.

"Zoey? Zoey, come on! I know you're there! It's Stark, your warrior, your protector. I know I failed you but please come back to me, please!" This person, _this Stark_, was rejoicing at the fact that my hand had moved and was saying that he had failed and what did he mean 'your warrior'? What was going on? And that's exactly what I asked when I realised how to speak a second later.

"What's going on?"

**A quick second chapter to show that I ****will**** update!  
But first: Who's excited for Burned to come out on Tuesday?!  
And second: Read, Review and ****Show me the love!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Zoey POV**

"What do you mean, 'what's going on'?" The shrill voiced girl said; Aphrodite.

"I mean exactly that! What is going on, where am I, who are all of you and most of all, what the hell happened?" I screeched. Everyone around me stared hard at me, with eyes filled with confusion and hurt.

"You don't remember do you Zoey?" 'Stark' said. _Well, no shit Sherlock!_ I wanted to shout but everyone was already to hurt by my shouting and not remembering for me to hurt them anymore. I may not know them, but that doesn't mean I need to hurt them; and underneath all the layers of darkness inside me, I knew these people. Not their faces, but their personalities reminded me of the people they must be. And they could help me, help me remember who I am and unlock everything I need to know.

"No," I mumbled, my head dropping as I saw looks of pain flash across everyone's face. "I'm sorry but I don't remember any of you."

"I'm Stark, your Warrior!" The boy next to me said as though I should remember him. "How can you not remember me?" He then whispered, more to himself than anyone else.

"What do you mean, 'your Warrior'?"

"Stark is your Warrior and you, in a way, are a High Priestess," another boy said stepping forward from a sea of people. "I'm Damien by the way." His name sparked a distant memory, a long forgotten thought; that was just that, long forgotten.

"Do I know you from the House of Night?" I asked, stupidly. I remembered being marked, and clearly this child had been marked, seeing Nyx and moving to the House of Night but that was it; the people were blurred and all the things I had done were jumbled, lying loose in a heap like strewn clothes.

"Yeah, you really don't-" he started as a thought him me, causing me to interrupt him.

"Why is you mark red?" I shuffled back slightly, an automatic effect that I, as well as many other people have, when they are unsure of something or maybe even scared; and this mark was the unknown, a mixture between both because not only was the unknown unidentifiable, it was also a risk and I couldn't risk losing anything else.

"It's a long story and one that can't be told, Little Priestess," a new voice said as they slowly entered the archway. "And to refresh your memory, I am Thanatos, one of the many Priestesses of the High Council."

'The High Council'... I'd heard of that before, it was something to do with...  
_A group of Priestesses chosen by myself to help keep Vampyres in check, _Nyx's voice whispered in my mind.

"Can you please explain what you mean by 'Little Priestess'?" I asked as politely as I could, after trying and failing to keep my curiosity at bay.

"By that I mean you have been Chosen by Nyx and marked as one of her Daughters, and you had also been marked generously by our Goddess as she had given you the tattoos of a Vampyre, not a Fledgling," Thanatos explained.

I took note on the fact she was using the past tense while talking about my supposed tattoos; tattoos I would have remembered had I known about them. But then again, I would have remembered my friends had I not been as careless as to injure myself so badly.

"Nyx has whispered to me the words you already know; that you have a problem and that a prophecy, in the form of a poem, from another prophetess can help," Thanatos concluded. "I must retire now, as you James Stark as sunrise is but a few hours away. Blessed be, Daughters and Sons of Nyx," and with that, she left.

We were all too busy watching her leave after arriving and not allowing anyone have a word in edgeways that we hadn't realised 'Aphrodite' was looking slightly lightheaded; standing eyes closed and wobbling slightly on her feet.

"Darius!" Stark shouted to a tall man that rather resembled a mountain. "Aphrodite is having a vision."

Her eyes opened to reveal her whole of her eye had turned black and a black tear escaped her eye before she turned and looked me in the eye and stated, in a voice so masculine it was clearly not hers;

"_Through the words of the beast,  
I set you all free,  
But it was the lies that you told,  
that made me blessed be."_

Then her eyes rolled back into her head, turning milky white as she fell forwards, into the arms of unconiousness and a worried Darius; who kept muttering random words and unintelligible sentences to her in a soothing voice. The only thing that made any sense was 'I am your warrior, Aphrodite LaFont, and this is my fault.'

I thought back to the poem and cast a quick message to Nyx asking for her help before re-reading it in my head again before Nyx vocalised herself through me.

"In the words of Neferet and the voice of Kalona, I tell you in words you understand, that Darkness is coming and it feeds on your lies. Be wise, my children..."

And with that, I too joined Aphrodite in unconiousness, to allow my mind to heal from the mental wound it suffered from sharing a mind and body with a soul so bright; like Aphrodite did with a soul so dark.

**Okay, this is just a small and slightly cryptic quick chapter to fill in for the past two weeks I've been off the radar. It's been a busy two weeks! But anyway, all I ask is that you,**

**Read, Review and **_**Show me the love!**_


End file.
